The Acquisitioner
by complete-randomalities
Summary: Hettie and the team need help from a surprising source in order to take down someone who has the means of destroying many lives. There's far more to their 'freelancer' than anyone realizes, but it's what they don't know about her that makes her the most valuable asset of all. (NCIS LA One-Shot)


Henrietta Lang walked down the hall of the Woman's Federal Prison. It had been a long time since she'd laid eyes on the woman she was there to see but there was no way around it. Her visit was a necessity in more ways than one.

"Wait here," the guard told her as he opened the door to the quite dreary visiting room.

Henrietta did not appreciate being bossed around like that, but she knew when to speak her mind and to keep her mouth shut, so she silently entered the room and waited.

It wasn't long before a woman wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles was ushered into the room. The guard accompanying her addressed Henrietta, "You have no electronic devices?"

"Of course not." Hettie snapped back, "I am not an idiot."

The guard glared at her before he said, "Fifteen minutes," before he closed the door, locking it behind him.

Hettie clasped her hands in front of her as she approached the young woman. "Hello, Dana."

Dana looked at Hettie like she was the last person in the world she wanted to see and her tone of voice matched perfectly. "Hettie."

"I need your assistance." Hettie stated, making Dana laughed.

"That's a hoot," Dana replied with lingering laughter as she shuffled over to the chair to take a seat before she continuing. "You are responsible for me getting locked up in here and you have the audacity to ask me for help?" Dana scoffed and looked anywhere but at Hettie.

Hettie went over to take the seat across from Dana, and set her hands on the table. "Dana, I know you blame me but this does not matter." Hettie sighed, "The Acquisitioner is back."

Dana's eyes went wide as she looked at Hettie because those were the last words she ever expected to come from that woman's mouth. "That's _impossible."_ She strongly emphasized those words because she knew for a fact how impossible it was.

"I too believed that the Acquisitioner had...retired when you were captured, but that is not the case. We have not been able to locate him and we need your help." Hettie replied, hoping that Dana would see the situation she was in.

"What do I get out of it?" Dana asked and would have crossed her arms if she was able to. With a smirk she added in, "My magic comes with a price."

Hettie looked at Dana with all the seriousness in the world, "If we catch the Acquisitioner...your freedom."

Dana practically grinned like the Cheshire Cat as she lifted her cuffs with a shake. "Let's get crackin."

* * *

"You can't be serious." Dana stated incredulously as she and Hettie walked into the Boathouse.

"What gives you the impression that I'm not?" Hettie asked in reply as she led her over to the couch.

"I thought you said I would be getting my freedom. Doesn't that include the freedom to choose where I get to stay?" Dana asked as she crossed her arms with a raised brow.

Hettie looked at her blankly before pointing out the obvious. "You should be grateful that I got you out of there at all. And you know as well as I that the terms of our arrangement are if we catch the Acquisitioner, then you gain your freedom. Until then, you need to be watched."

"Give me an ankle bracelet then." Dana even held out her leg to emphasize that she was serious.

Once again, Hettie looked at her blankly before replying, "For you to hack into it within the first ten minutes? I don't think so."

Dana scoffed when Hettie said that, "I take offense to that Hettie." She grinned before she added on, "It would take me less than five."

Hettie shook her head with a bit of a sigh as Dana sat down on the couch.

"So if I have to be watched, then what? You're going to babysit me?" Dana's tone was sarcastic, Hettie's reply was not.

"No." Hettie said as Sam and Callen entered the boat house, almost as if on cue. "They are."

Dana turned to see who was approaching and repeated her previous incredulous statement, "You can't be serious. I was joking about a babysitter."

This time it was Hettie who grinned. "I wasn't."

"Who's this?" Sam asked as he gestured to Dana.

"Apparently I'm you latest babysitting gig," Dana replied with sarcasm as she stood.

"What?" Callen asked as he looked at Hettie, who explained

"This is Dana Vast. She is going to help us find the Acquisitioner." Hettie looked at Dana and proceeded with the introductions. "Dana, this is Sam and Callen."

"Okay, that's all well and good," Sam replied, "But what does that have to do with babysitting?"

Hettie made her explanation brief, "Miss Vast is...on loan to us, therefore you two must keep a close eye on her. She is not to be left alone and keep electronic devices out of arms reach unless supervised."

Sam and Callen looked at each other before Callen concurred, "Babysitting."

"That's about right." Hettie answered before heading towards the exit, "I will leave you three to get to know one another."

"Hettie, come on." Sam said to her as she passed, but Hettie just gave a little wave behind her as she went.

Once Hettie was gone, Sam and Callen looked at Dana. "What's make you so qualified to help us?"

Dana replied with, "The Acquisitioner and I have a...personal bond." She let Sam and Callen take that under their own interpretation, before she continued "Which is how I know that who you are looking for has taken the Acquisitioner's name and is a fraud."

"What makes you so sure?" Sam asked curiously.

Dana looked at him with a scoff. "Believe me, if the real Acquisitioner was active again, I'd know."

Callen crossed his arms as he looked Dana over, "Where are you on loan from again?"

Dana grinned as she said, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Before anything else could be said, the nearby screen turned on and Eric's face appeared, "Sorry to interrupt guys, but we have a problem."

"What is it Eric?" Callen asked as he, Sam, and Dana went over to the table.

"You Dana?" Eric asked when she came into view.

"That's me." Dana replied with a bit of a pose.

"Good, you have clearance." Eric confirmed then continued, "Kenzi and Deeks went to check out March's place and the materials were missing. What they did find was a note that read 'The Acquisitioner says hello'."

"That is so not the Acquisitioner's style." Dana stated as she sat on the table, "See? It's not the real Acquisitioner. And hey, what kind of materials are we talking about here?"

"Radioactive ones. Enough to make Los Angeles go 'poof'." Eric replied as he made exploding hand gestures.

"Again, not their style." Dana stated, "They never acquired any bits and pieces unless it was electronic. Ingredients to make a bomb? No way."

"And how would you know this?" Callen asked her then said, "And don't say because of your personal relationship."

Dana turned to face Callen with a sigh. "I'm who the customers dealt with when they wanted to deal with the Acquisitioner. The Acquisitioner preferred to keep their identity a secret, so to get to them they had to go through me. No me, no Acquisitioner. One of the many reasons why I know that who you are looking for is not who they claim to be." Dana turned around and said to Eric, "Be a dear and tell Hettie that if she wants any more help from me, then I'm going to need my tech." Dana gave Eric a wave before she slid off the table and went back over to the couch.

"Keep us updated." Sam said to Eric, who saluted in reply before he ended the call. "Now what?" Sam asked and Callen looked over at Dana with a sigh, "Now we babysit."

* * *

Finally, Dana was allowed access to a computer. When the laptop was placed in front of her, she scrunched up her nose in disgust. "What do you expect me to do with this?" She poked at the laptop like it was some sort of foreign object.

"Hettie said you were some tech wizard, so you tell me." Callen replied as he sat on the table, near her.

"I said I needed _my_ tech. I got things that make your buddie's little set up look like Child's play." Dana leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms, "If I don't get my tech then take me right back to prison and you can tell that to Hettie."

As if on cue, Hettie appeared on the screen. "Don't be so dramatic, Dana."

"Then give me my stuff." Dana replied firmly.

Hettie knew there was no way to win this and she needed Dana's help. "Fine." Hettie reluctantly agreed, "Mr Callen, please go with Dana to get her things. Mr. Hanna, come back to Ops."

Sam said to Callen, "Good luck," before he headed off and Callen had a 'haha' expression before he looked at Dana. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going dancing." Dana replied with a wiggle of her eyebrows and Callen looked at her with a raised brow of question before he followed her lead. Granted, Callen didn't like this one bit but he knew how badly they needed Dana's assistance. But just because they needed her help it didn't mean he trusted her.

* * *

"You weren't kidding when you said we were going dancing." Callen stated as he closed the door and looked up at the sign that read 'Clarice's Dance Studio'.

"When I'm kidding, people think I'm serious. When I'm serious, people think I'm kidding." Dana replied as she threw up her hands, "I can't win."

Callen opened the door for Dana as they headed inside. "Miss Vast." A man said as she entered, "It's been a long time," he added then looked at Callen in question.

"He's with me." Dana said as she cocked her head in Callen's direction, "And long time or not, I'm back and my studio better be the same way I left it."

The man bowed his head. "Of course," he replied and stepped aside so Dana and Callen could go further into the studio.

"Good." Dana led Callen through another set of doors and down a long hallway.

"Friend of yours?"Callen asked as they walked.

Dana scoffed, "Hardly." she didn't elaborate any more then that and when they reached the door, Dana entered a few digits. The digits unlocked a little panel below the keypad that had a fingerprint scanner. Dana placed her thumb on it and when it accepted the print, the door unlocked. Dana looked back at Callen with a grin and led him inside. "Welcome to my world."

The door opened to a ballet studio that had more computers and servers than most high tech companies. One wall of mirrors was blocked by desks of monitors and other equipment. The far end of the studio held all the servers but the room was silent. That was until Dana flipped a switch. The room instantly filled with activity with the flip of one switch. The dormant computers came alive with beeps, and boops, and fans whirring. Dana closed her eyes and smiled. "Music to my ears," she said as she walked inside and took a seat at the largest desk in the center of the room.

"What makes you think your technology is better? You've been locked up for how long?" Callen asked as he walked over to her, casually removing his cell phone as he did.

"I was ten years ahead, maybe more, five years ago. Which makes me at least still five years ahead of whatever you have. Except for touch screen monitors, I need to get me some of those," Dana replied as her fingers raced across a keyboard.

Callen was about to set his cell phone on her desk when Dana's hand shot out to stop him. "You can try it if you like" she warned, "but Eric will just get a decoy of all my information and everything on your Ops servers will be transferred over to me, so I wouldn't try that if I were you." Dana grinned and pulled back her hand, leaving him to make his decision.

Callen was about to call her bluff but Eric commed in and told him not to try it. Then he rambled on about her being LadyRavenna one of the best hackers and tech geniuses in the world. Once Eric's almost fangirling was over, Callen said "I'll be sure to get an autograph," before ending the connection.

"Eric finally figured out who I was, eh?" Dana asked as she looked at Callen for a moment, but he didn't say anything in response to that. What Callen did say, was "Just get what you need so you can finally help."

"I am helping. I've been helping since the beginning. Just because you don't believe that the Acquisitioner isn't who you think it is, isn't my problem," Dana replied as she proceeded to hook things up to one another.

"If you would just reveal who he is then all this would go a hell of a lot quicker." Callen shot back and Dana looked at him like he was crazy.

"Callen. I have told you more than once that this... _thief_ \- this fraud, is not who you think it is no matter what name they give. So what makes you think that I will reveal the Acquisitioner's real identity?" Dana raised her brows before going back to her work.

Callen's phone rang an before he answered it, Dana said "Tell Hettie I said hi." Callen didn't want to admit that she was right about who was calling, and just answered his phone. "What's up, Hettie?"

"We have a new problem, Mr Callen." Hettie replied from Ops. "The Acqusitioner has traded the materials for something else."

"What?" Callen asked, and that caught Dana's attention.

"Information." Hettie replied, "Very sensitive information."

* * *

"The sooner you believe me, the sooner we can find this guy!" Dana exclaimed as they walked into the boathouse with her gear. "Don't you get it? The Acquisitioner, the _real_ Acquisitioner wouldn't need to steal radioactive material and exchange it for information. They would have been able to get it themselves!"

Callen set down the stuff he was carrying and said, "Leave it here, follow me."

Dana rolled her eyes and followed Callen into what looked like an interrogation room. "You can't be serious," Dana said as Sam closed the door behind them. A phrase that Dana had been using far more often than she cared to that day.

"Don't _you_ get it?" Callen said to Dana as she walked over to the table, "You're a convicted felon who has been protecting the Acquisitioner for years. Why Hettie thinks you'd help us, I don't know, but here we are. So you are going to tell us everything about the Acquisitioner, right now."

"That includes his real identity." Sam added and Dana sat down with a scoff, "Not happening."

Callen leaned on the table as he said, "I don't think you understand what's at stake. People will die if that information ends up in the wrong hands. So you're going to tell us what we need to know or get sent back to prison."

"I'll be going back to prison either way, whether or not I tell you." Dana replied then said, "Unless you sweeten the pot for me."

Callen stood up straight and Sam asked, "What do you want?"

"I want a deal." Dana smirked as she leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other."I want full immunity for anything and everything involving the Acquisitioner. If you get me that, then I'll talk."

Sam and Callen looked at each other and Callen said, "We need to make a call."

Dana shrugged and said with a grin, "I'll be right here."

* * *

A few hours later, the deal was placed on the table in front of her. Dana read it thoroughly and found that it did state that she had full immunity for everything and anything involving the Acquisitioner and she would be fully released from prison with time served, no probation. Dana smirked at that part, figuring that Hettie must have added that in just to make it even more tempting to take. Everything was exactly the way Dana wanted it and more, so she signed it.

Once it was signed, Sam took it away and Callen said, "Good, now tell us who you work for."

"I don't work for anyone." Dana replied honestly and Sam scoffed, "Cut the crap, Dana. You got what you wanted now tell us who you work for."

"I already answered that. I don't work for anyone." Dana replied and Callen as losing his patience, " _Dana_..." he began but Dana cut him off, "I can't tell you who I work for because I don't _work_ for the Acquisitioner. " Dana let that sink in for a moment before saying, "I _am_ the Acquisitioner." The looks Sam and Callen exchanged with one another made Dana smirk, "Believe me now?"

Sam and Callen left Dana in the interrogation room and found Hettie already ready to speak on the video screen. "Did you know about this?" Callen asked, referring to Dana being the Acquistioner.

"I can assure you Mr Callen, I did not." Hettie replied honestly. "I knew she had a close relationship with the Acquisitioner but all the information led to believe that they were male. I had no idea that Dana wasn't just a middle man."

"Well she's a hell of a lot more than that." Sam muttered in reply then got upset, "And we just gave her a free ride for everything that she has done as the Acquisitioner!"

"I understand that, Mr Hanna," Hettie answered, "But now we have vital information that can be used to our advantage."

"What do you mean?" Callen asked, not quite sure he understood what she was getting at.

Hettie clasped her hands together in front of her as she said, "Dana was obviously correct in stating that the man we are looking for, is not who they claim to be. It's about time we prove it to everyone else."

When Sam and Callen went back into the interrogation room, Dana was sitting on the table as if she was meditating with her back to them. "Let's go," Sam basically ordered.

Dana spun around on the table and looked at them with a smile. "Where are we going?"

"Ops. Congratulations Dana, you've been temporarily reinstated." Callen reluctantly and sarcastically replied.

Dana grinned like the Cheshire Cat as she said in a far more playful way than any other time that day, "You can't be serious?"

Sam and Callen both looked like they wished they weren't, which made her grin all the more.

* * *

"Oooo I like this place." Dana said as they entered the building, "It's very nice."

"Oh my god!" Dana heard a voice exclaim then saw the one Callen had referred to as Eric, run down the stairs.

"You're LadyRavenna! You're LadyRavenna! I'm such a big fan. Could I have your autograph?" Eric's words were practically coming out a mile a minute.

Dana laughed as she shook Eric's hand. "I haven't been called LadyRavenna in a very long time, but thank you. As far as an autograph goes, I think we can work something out," she said with a wink.

Callen wanted to get down to business, "Eric." He said to him in a 'get back on track' kind of tone and Eric did just that.

"Right." Eric led the way to Ops. "Follow me."

Dana followed Eric upstairs and into Ops and placed her hand on her chest when she walked into the room. "Am I dead? I must be dead and this is heaven." Dana looked around the room and couldn't stop smiling, to her places like this were the best places on earth.

" _Dana_ ," Hettie said to pull her out of awe. That caught Dana's attention and Hettie pulled out a chair, "Sit."

Dana did as she was instructed and sat down. Her hands gracefully, and just barely touched the computer that was in front of her. "Hello, sexy." she said with a smile and just then Deeks and Kenzi walked in, with Deeks saying "Someone call me sexy?" Dana turned around just in time to see Kenzi backhand Deeks.

Hettie looked at the arriving team members and introduced then to Dana. "Mr Deeks, Ms Blye, this is Dana Vast. She is going to help us catch the Acquisitioner."

Dana rolled her eyes at that. "Can't we call him something else? I mean, come on. He's dragging my name through the mud."

Kenzi and Deeks exchanged questioning looks with each other and then with Sam and Callen. Sam was the one that answered them with, "Dana is the real Acquisitioner. The guy we're looking for is a copycat."

"Yes!" Dana exclaimed as she spun around in her chair, "Let's call him the Copy Cat! I like that." Dana nodded affirmatively then went back to what she was working on.

While Hettie was giving out assignments to Deeks and Kenzi, as well as Sam, Eric slid over to Dana. "What exactly are you doing?"

"I could tell you that, but I'd have to kill you." Dana replied as her fingers moved across the keyboard at a lightning speed. Eric looked like he wasn't sure whether or not to believe her and Dana didn't give him any indication either way. Instead she said, "Do me a favor and pull up everything you have on the Copy Cat." Eric nodded and slid back over to his station.

At this point, Sam, Deeks, and Kenzi were already off on their assignments. Callen, Hettie, Eric, and Dana were now the only ones in Ops. When Dana turned around in her chair and realized this she said, "Whoa, where did everyone go?"

"You don't pay much attention, do you?" Callen asked with crossed arms.

"With all this sexiness around me?" Dana gasped as she circled her finger around, referring to all the electronics in the room, "I don't think so."

Eric pulled up everything they had on the Copy Cat and Dana stood up to head over to the main screen. Her eyes raced across every bit of information there, embedding it all to her memory. "Okay, so let me get this straight..." Dana said even though she knew she was right, "The Copy Cat stole some radioactive materials that March wanted. He traded said materials for information about some Black Ops operation overseas. And now he's auctioning it off to the highest bidder? In some fancy hotel?"

"That's the gist." Callen replied.

Dana didn't see the issue. "Easy enough."

"Excuse me?" Callen asked as Dana went back to her seat.

Hettie herself wasn't quite sure where this was going. "What are you doing Dana?"

"Signing us up for an auction. Those in attendance believe that the information came from the Acquisitioner. If the real Acquisitioner shows up and refutes it, bye bye auction," Dana replied as she worked her magic.

"You're going to the auction as the Acquisitioner?" Callen asked, finding that a bit contradictory since Dana was so adamant about keeping her identity safe just hours prior.

"Nope," Dana replied with an impish grin as she turned back to face him, "You are."

* * *

An alias was set up for Callen and Dana didn't need one since she was going as herself. She was helping Callen get into character while they were down in the costume department. "Tell me again," Dana requested of Callen as she worked on his bow tie.

"I will when you tell me why I have to wear a bow tie." Callen replied, since he did not care of them at all.

"Bow ties are cool," Dana replied, smiling. "And it is popular belief that the Acquisitioner and I are involved, so if I like them, so do they."

"I just realized you never use gender specific pronouns when you refer to the Acquisitioner." Callen stated.

Dana nodded affirmatively. "That's right. And I have never lied about who the Acquisitioner was, I was just never specific. This will be the first time that I will ever lie about who they are." Dana stepped back and inspected Callen's tie before waving her hand. "Now tell me."

"I, The Acquisitioner, aka Henry Jenkins, worked as a TA for Mitchum Whitmore at MIT where I met you, in class. I had a knack for finding things no one else could, which you turned into a business venture. One thing led to another and here we are." Callen knew he was giving the cliffnotes, but he knew the story that Dana had provided backwards and forwards.

"Good enough." Dana didn't ask for more details than that because she had faith he's stick with the story. Dana took a step back and looked Callen over some more. "Gotta say, Henry. You're looking sharp. Now remember you hate fancy stuff so..."

"Feel uncomfortable in the suit. Fidget with it constantly and mutter about having to wear it." Callen finished for her, making her smile, "Exactly."

Dana then went ahead and plucked a dress off that rack that Hettie provided. "I'll be back." She gave Callen a bit of a wink before going around into the changing area.

Callen was adjusting his cuffs in the mirror when Hettie approached him. "I want to thank you for being so...open about this." Hettie sincerely told him, to which Callen replied with "It's not like I had much of a choice."

Hettie clasped her hands in front of her as she sighed, "Dana is not a bad person, Mr Callen. She has made mistakes, yes, but that does not make her bad."

Callen turned to face Hettie as he asked, "Why are you vetting her so much? What don't I know?"

Hettie didn't get a chance to answer because Dana came out of the dressing room and answered the question addressed to Hettie. "There's a lot you don't know Callen, so you're going to have to be more specific than that." Dana was wearing and ankle length black dress with a slit up to the thigh.

Callen turned to face Dana when she spoke and when her view came to his sight...he was at a loss for words.

"So?" Dana asked once the dress was fitting the way she liked it.

Callen was pulled from his thoughts and asked, "So what?"

"So, are you going to be more specific?" Dana asked then teased him, "And you said I was the one who didn't pay attention." Dana walked past him to show Hettie the dress, turning around to give her the full view.

Hettie looked at her with approval - at least where her appearance was concerned. "It's lovely Dana. Just remember I do not approve of you going along but I know there is nothing I can do to stop you."

Dana smiled when she heard that. "Good. You're learning."

Hettie narrowed her eyes at Dana a little."Unlike some, I am fully capable of learning. Unlike _you_. Hell will freeze before _you_ ever learn."

Dana didn't have much of a response to that. "I'll get back to you with something witty later."

Hettie smiled a challenging smile at Dana, "You do that." There was nothing left to do or say since they were all briefed on what they were to do and what would happen when, in regards to things that were in their control, so Hettie walked away.

Dana turned around to make sure everything was alright in the mirror, but she met Callen instead. Based off the expression on his face, she asked "What?"

Callen looked at her for a moment before he said, "Nothing. Just trying to figure out just exactly how you and Hettie know each other."

Dana grinned, "I'll make you a deal. If you guess correctly, I'll tell you all about it." After making the offer, she extended her hand. "Deal?"

Callen accepted and shook her hand, "Deal."

Once again Dana grinned like a Cheshire Cat, and asked a question pertaining to their case "Shall we?"

Callen answered by offering his arm to her, which Dana accepted, and the two headed off to the auction.

* * *

"So we have no idea which one of these people are the Copy Cat?" Dana spoke softly to Callen as they entered the hotel that was closed off for the entire evening except for those on the list.

"That's right." Callen replied and offered to take Dana's shawl once they reached the coat check. They checked in just fine thanks to the alias and now it was time for the metal detector. "Eric, we got a couple detectors coming up."

"I got it." Dana replied as she squeezed her purse when it was her time and Callen's to go through. They were both cleared and allowed to enter further into the hotel.

"You're awesome." Dana heard Eric say into her earwig and she smirked proudly at that.

"Miss Vast!" Dana heard exclaimed and turned to see someone she had not seen in a very long time, "Mr Gallagher. It's a pleasure." She replied as he took her hand and kissed it.

"I did not expect to see you here." Mr Gallagher said and continued, "After all, the Acquisitioner has been branching out on his own since your...incarceration."

"I am not incarcerated now." Dana obviously pointed out, "So I was not about to miss this. Now...where is he? I would love to reconnect." Dana knew that she couldn't spill the beans about the Acquisitioner until they knew who the Copy Cat was.

Mr Gallagher nodded, "But of course." His eyes scanned the room and he stopped upon who he was looking for, "There he is, I am sure he will be most glad to see you."

"I'm sure." Dana replied with fake sincerity. "Excuse us." Mr Gallagher did just that and Dana led Callen over to the man who was the Copy Cat.

"This is going easier than I thought it would be." Callen didn't like it because it felt too easy.

Dana almost laughed at his words. "I know and know of everyone in this room. Once things go south, it will not be easy. So, I suggest you distract the Copy Cat while I find the information."

That was agreed upon but they didn't get the chance because the Copy Cat went up to the stage and exclaimed, "Let the auction begin!"

"Oh, bugger." Dana said to herself since there was no way they'd get to him so easily now.

Callen looked at Dana for a moment when he heard her choice of words before they went over to take seats in the front row.

Dana crossed one leg over the other and smiled her most flirtatious smile up to the Copy Cat with a little wave. The Copy Cat grinned at her before addressing the crowd, "You all know what the item is, or else you wouldn't be here! So there's no point in repeating, so lets start the bidding off at one million."

Dana raised her hand at one million and the price kept getting higher and high until it reached almost thirty nine million dollars and Dana raised her hand once again.

" _Dana_." She heard Hettie say in a 'what are you doing?!' tone of voice in her earwig, but she ignored it. The bidding went on for a little while longer until it was almost forty two million and Dana placed the winning bid, "Going once! Going twice! Sold to the lovely lady in the black!"

"Was this whole thing a scam!" Mr Gallagher shouted as he stood up, "You're mistress is the winner?!"

"My mistress? I have no idea who this woman is, sir." The Copy Cat answered and that was the nail in his coffin.

"If you don't know who she is? Then how are you the Acquisitioner?" A woman asked a she stood, another loyal customer over the years. The Copy Cat looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Because he's not." Dana said as she stood up and pointed to Callen, "He is."

That was it for the Copy Cat. Everyone in the room was in outrage believing this was some sort of sting operation or something of the like, so while they got the hell out of Dodge, Dana and Callen ran after the Copy Cat who had the information in his hand.

 _While all this was going down, Kenzi and Deeks were going after the ones who traded the information for the radioactive materials to begin with. And quite successfully at that._

Dana kicked off her heels as she ran and took off after the Copy Cat. He stopped and pulled out a gun, firing a few shots down the hall. Each shot missed Dana and Callen, so they kept going. As soon as Dana was able, she stopped, pulled a knife from a garter sheath on her thigh and threw it down the hall. It got right into the Copy Cat's arm which caused him to cry out in pain. It also caused him to fire a couple more shots, one of them getting Dana in the shoulder.

The Copy Cat took off and Dana dropped to the floor. When Callen stopped to check on her she yelled, "I'm fine, go!"

Callen paused for a second longer than he should have before taking off down the hall and out the door the Copy Cat exited from.

Callen caught up with him and when the Copy Cat drew his weapon again to fire at Callen, Callen fired his own. The Copy Cat dropped to the ground and when Callen checked for a pulse he didn't find one. After securing the thumb drive and reporting it in, he went back to check on Dana...but when he got there...she was nowhere in sight.

* * *

It was almost four weeks later before Callen saw Dana again. He was headed into work one morning when there she was - sitting at his desk with her feet rested upon it. "What are you doing here?" Callen asked incredulously as he went over to her.

Dana pulled her legs down and said, "Hello to you too."

Callen set his bag on his desk and gave Dana an 'explain yourself' look.

Dana clearly saw this look and did as his expression asked. "I knew you'd catch the Copy Cat so there was no real reason for my to stick around. So, I got patched up, hit the road for a little while, and now here I am."

Dana moved from his seat so he could sit, but he didn't. Callen just stood there and looked at her. "Why are you here?" He asked again.

Just then Sam and the other members of the team entered and Eric appeared on the stairs with a loud whistle. "Granger needs you up in Ops, guys. We got a case." Eric looked at Dana and said, "You too, come on." He looked excited to be working with Dana as he went back up the stairs.

Dana pointed in that direction and said, "Nell's on leave so that's why I'm here." She moved around Callen and caught up with Eric upstairs.

"She works here now?" Kenzi asked as she watched Dana head to Ops.

"Guess so." Deeks replied as they both went up.

Callen approached the stairs but stopped for a moment.

Sam looked at him curiously. "What's up G?"

"Does this seem normal to you?" Callen asked, referring to the whole situation with Dana.

Sam scoffed with a chuckle and said, "No, but what are we going to do about it?"

Callen didn't have an answer for that so they just headed up to Ops to join the others.

Meanwhile, Hettie was in the incinerator room with a file in her hand. She opened the file and picked up a photograph of a baby girl. With a sad look on her face, she tossed it into the fire along with every other photograph that was within it. Finally Hettie came to the final piece. Hettie looked at the adoption papers in her hand...Dana's adoption papers. These were the last articles that could ever link Dana to Hettie in this way and while it pained Hettie, she knew it had to be done. No one could ever be able to prove that Hettie had adopted Dana when she was born. There was too much at stake...too much to protect. Not just for herself...but for Dana.

* * *

The End

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 **A/N: Hey, Readers. This was something I wrote up a little while ago and decided to post it. I'm considering this a one shot because I won't be posting any further chapters, but hope you enjoyed it :) Thanks for reading.  
**


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